It seems wanting him back roaming the outfield wasn't good enough, that now we want him to roam the broadcast booth...based on little to no knowledge of his ability to actually be competent there. You're right...it is embarrassing.

Nope. Nothing to do with that. I was never a big proponent of bringing Rowand back as a player (though the snarky anti-Rowand sentiment got WAY more annoying around here than the "Legend of Aaron Rowand" folks, eventually). I think he did a great job in his games in the booth last year. I have no idea what he did at Sox Fest. I'm basing my opinion on what he has done in the booth. I think he shows immense promise. And I expected him to be a train wreck up there.

Nope. Nothing to do with that. I was never a big proponent of bringing Rowand back as a player (though the snarky anti-Rowand sentiment got WAY more annoying around here than the "Legend of Aaron Rowand" folks, eventually). I think he did a great job in his games in the booth last year. I have no idea what he did at Sox Fest. I'm basing my opinion on what he has done in the booth. I think he shows immense promise. And I expected him to be a train wreck up there.

Same here. I thought he sounded very natural.

Reminded me of hearing Black Jack in the booth the very first time. A pleasant surprise.

Rather than hiring ANOTHER ex-player "color" analyst/storyteller, how about hiring a professional play by play announcer who knows enough about the game, but also has the professional humility, to simply call the game, and then set up the analyst to add color or fill in a story?

Listening to Sox broadcasts over the years, I have learned much about pitching and game strategy from Stone and Farmer, much about hitting from DJ and Paciorek, and a lot about personalities and history from Hawk. But in my time listening to the Sox, only Rooney and Hagin can both call a decent game and bring out the best in the color analyst with whom they are paired. (I think Farmer brings out his partner's ability to analyze, because he asks good questions, but he's bad at calling the game.)

I don't have a problem with Rowand as a color analyst. Just give me a decent professional PBP announcer to call the damn game!

__________________The universe is the practical joke of the General at the expense of the Particular, quoth Frater Perdurabo, and laughed. The disciples nearest him wept, seeing the Universal Sorrow. Others laughed, seeing the Universal Joke. Others wept. Others laughed. Others wept because they couldn't see the Joke, and others laughed lest they should be thought not to see the Joke. But though FRATER laughed openly, he wept secretly; and really he neither laughed nor wept. Nor did he mean what he said.

Rather than hiring ANOTHER ex-player "color" analyst/storyteller, how about hiring a professional play by play announcer who knows enough about the game, but also has the professional humility, to simply call the game, and then set up the analyst to add color or fill in a story?

Listening to Sox broadcasts over the years, I have learned much about pitching and game strategy from Stone and Farmer, much about hitting from DJ and Paciorek, and a lot about personalities and history from Hawk. But in my time listening to the Sox, only Rooney and Hagin can both call a decent game and bring out the best in the color analyst with whom they are paired. (I think Farmer brings out his partner's ability to analyze, because he asks good questions, but he's bad at calling the game.)

I don't have a problem with Rowand as a color analyst. Just give me a decent professional PBP announcer to call the damn game!

Oh, I totally agree with that, I just don't think they're gonna fire Hawk. I would love for them to bring in Rowand for color, and a professional, veteran play by play man to pair him with.

The more I have thought about this the more I'm convinced that 2013 will be the last year for Stone announcing the White Sox. I always thought he would rather be with the Cubs than with the White Sox. As far as his relationship with Hawk goes, I can't believe any announcer would of rather been with Harry Caray his last few years than be with Hawk. Harry Caray was past his peak as an announcer his last few years with the the Cubs when he was with Stone and Stone never said one bad thing about Caray. How many times did Caray call Andre Dawson Andre Rodgers? Stone didn't have any difficulty overlooking Caray but he finds it difficult working with Harrelson. Perhaps he should simply resign before the 2013 season begins and try to find another job. And believe me, at his age he's going to have a hard time finding another job as a MLB announcer.

All this talk about age is depressing me. I'm trying to find something to do and I'm three years younger than Stone. Oh well, maybe Walmart is hiring greeters. As for Stone, I agree with GS that he prefers the Cubs, and his observations on the late career Harry Caray.

When Hawk and Stone are eventually replaced, I'm sure a lot of people with have just as many complaints about their replacements.

If there's one thing sports fans like to do, it's bitch and moan about who's announcing the game.

You aren't going to find too many announcers who everybody is on the same page with (if any). People are going to like certain styles of calling a game, while others will be rubbed the wrong way with how someone calls a game. That's the way it is, and that is the way it will always be. Growing up in Cincinnati, there are plenty of people who do not like the way Marty Brennaman calls a game, and he's in the damn Hall of Fame for crying out loud. Hawk may never sniff the Hall of Fame, but while his polarizing nature may be more acute than with most broadcasters, he isn't any different than anybody else. Some people love him, some people hate him. Just like the other 30+ TV play-by-play guys in MLB.

__________________

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."- Former Orioles Manager Earl WeaverGo Sox and Go Bearcats!

I liked Milo Hamilton and Bob Elson (I think those names are correct) but I was just a boy. How many of you remember them? I don't think ex-players are good at PBP.... bring in an actual pro announcer for that job.

I liked Milo Hamilton and Bob Elson (I think those names are correct) but I was just a boy. How many of you remember them? I don't think ex-players are good at PBP.... bring in an actual pro announcer for that job.

The Commander, Bob Elson, could be pretty bland, and left a lot of dead air (the sound of radio static and crowd murmuring on WCFL is a memory of my youth.) "here's the windup...and the pitch...ball, low and outside. (twenty seconds of static.)" "Speaking of low, if you're low on funds, call Friendly Bob Adams..."

Back then, we had the opposite problem, that of very little analysis because the broadcasters hadn't played the game at any high level.

__________________

"Nellie Fox, that little son of a gun, was always on base and was a great hit-and-run man. He sprayed hits all over."
Yogi Berra in the New York Sunday News (July 12, 1970)

The Commander, Bob Elson, could be pretty bland, and left a lot of dead air (the sound of radio static and crowd murmuring on WCFL is a memory of my youth.) "here's the windup...and the pitch...ball, low and outside. (twenty seconds of static.)" "Speaking of low, if you're low on funds, call Friendly Bob Adams..."

Back then, we had the opposite problem, that of very little analysis because the broadcasters hadn't played the game at any high level.

I believe kufram was implying a play by play announcer like Elson or Hamilton with a color guy, not just a play by play.

I believe kufram was implying a play by play announcer like Elson or Hamilton with a color guy, not just a play by play.

That was the intention.

I was too young to know if they were any good but their voices meant I was at the ball game even if was just a transistor radio held up to my ear.

But I believe the time to talk is when one has something to say... not to just fill the air with the sound of one's voice. A little dead air with the sounds of the ballpark in the background would be better than endless "my 95 years in baseball" lines.

Cricket commentators are very good, very conversational and less full of themselves than baseball commentators. Of course, they have much more time to fill and have to talk for long periods when nothing whatsoever is happening, so I think they take it more seriously. But they have a way of making listening to the game more enjoyable than just reporting on the play or talking about themselves.